One More Time With Feeling
by Keitorin Asthore
Summary: AU. Blaine and Rachel are siblings. Kurt and Quinn are twins. Things change, both for better and worse. A series of drabbles about the Anderson siblings and the Hummel twins. Klaine. Other pairings to be decided. Drabble #9: "The Car Show"
1. Sadie Hawkins

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

Rachel stamped her foot. "Francey!" she scolded. "Mom said you had to take us home from the dance when we wanted to go, and I'm tired and Blaine got in a fight with his date, and we want to go."

Her older sister continued to dance, her satin party dress shining in the gym lights. "Can't you call Mom?" she called over the pulsing beats.

"No, she left for the conference, remember?" Rachel said. She crossed her arms. "Take us home."

"Fine," Francey sighed. "Go find Blaine and we'll go home."

Rachel pushed her way off the dance floor, ducking under a wayward banner with _Sadie Hawkins Dance 2007 _painted on it in big, cockeyed letters. She really wasn't that tired, but she had spent the whole dance with her date messing around with his phone while she drank punch and looked around the poorly decorated gym. He'd accused her of making moony eyes at Jesse St. James; she'd gotten defensive and huffed off…but the truth was, he was right. She wanted to ask Jesse, but that stupid Giselle had pulled him aside after rehearsal before she could get to him.

She nudged the glass doors open, the letters spelling out "Carmel High School" casting strange shadows across the entryway, and stepped out onto the broad concrete steps, her heels clicking. "Blaine," she called, the fall wind whipping at her full tulle skirt. "Blaine, c'mon, we're going home."

She wrapped her arms around herself and stamped her feet to stay warm in the chill. "Blaine, I saw you arguing with Preston," she called. "I know you want to go home. Come on, we can have a good sulk and watch a movie. I bet Francey will get us ice cream. We can even watch in my room if you want."

She glanced down, and there at the bottom of the steps was her younger brother.

Rachel's breath caught in her chest. Blaine was crumpled on the concrete sidewalk like a broken doll, arms and legs splayed out. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.

"Blaine?" she whispered.

He turned his head a little at that, and she ran down the steps, her slightly-too-large heels falling off her feet, and fell down beside him. "Blaine, what happened?" she asked, touching his cheek gingerly with trembling fingers. "What happened? Did you fall?"

He tried to grunt out a reply, but his teeth and lips were slicked with blood. Her stomach turned; she could see tears welling up in his eyes and that made it worse. He was trying so hard to speak, but she couldn't hear him. She leaned over, pulling her hair back from her ear.

"They…caught…us," she heard him eke out, his teeth gritted tightly.

"Who caught you?" she begged, pressing her hand to his cheek. It was the last unblemished spot she could see. He was covered in blood and dirt, and his clothes were torn, even the new shirt that she and Francey had helped him pick out for his first high school dance. "Please, Blaine, who hurt you?"

He tried to struggle into a sitting position, but the color abruptly drained from his face. She grabbed uselessly at his shoulder before he could slam back into the concrete. "Get Francey," he panted. "Please, get…"

His eyes rolled back in his head. Rachel let out a strangled little scream and hopped back. "Oh, god, please be okay," she begged. "Blaine, please, I-"

He slumped against the steps, still and pale, and Rachel pushed herself away. She ran up the stairs, gathering up her skirts, heedless of the cold rough cement under her bare feet. "Help," she called in a small faint voice. The sound echoed down the empty halls, bouncing off the lockers. "Help!"

She ran faster, shoving her way into the gaudy gym. "Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, bellowing over the crappy pop music piping through the speakers. "Francey! Francey!"

Suddenly her sister was there, holding her up by the elbows. "Rachel, where the hell are your shoes?" Francey demanded. She smoothed an errant lock of hair away from her forehead. "Honey, there's blood all over you. What happened? Are you okay?"

The dam burst. "It's Blaine," Rachel sobbed, throwing her arms around Francey's waist. "He's on the front steps. He's hurt. He's bleeding everywhere and I don't know what happened and I don't know what to do."

Francey grabbed hold of Rachel's wrist in a vise-like grip and dragged her out of the gym. "You don't know what happened?" she demanded.

"He couldn't tell me!" Rachel cried. "He tried to sit up and he passed out and- I'm so scared!"

"There's not time to be scared," Francey snapped as they ran down the cement steps. Rachel tripped over a step, scraping the top of her foot. "We have to…oh god."

Francey knelt down beside Blaine and touched her hand to the side of his neck, immediately staining her fingers with blood. "Is he dead?" Rachel sobbed.

"He's not dead, and stop crying," Francey said. She reached over to grab Rachel's chin firmly. "Cry later, Rae."

A crowd had formed at the top of the steps, hushed and wide-eyed. A teacher pushed past the assembled gawkers and joined them at the bottom of the steps. Rachel huddled close to her sister, clutching at Francey's skirt.

Blaine started to rouse a little, his mouth screwing up a little. "Baby, wake up," Francey urged. "Open your eyes. Come on, open your eyes for me. You can do it."

Blaine barely managed it, a slight sliver of amber showing from under his thick lashes. His pupils were unevenly dilated. "Hurts," he moaned.

Rachel placed her hand over his. "It's going to be okay," she said tentatively. "Just…lie still. Don't move around too much."

Blaine's fingers twitched around hers and grasped onto her index finger, gripping weakly. Rachel's eyes welled up. "Please don't die," she whispered.

The vaguest sounds of a siren echoed in the distance, and Rachel felt Francey sag in relief. "You're going to go to the hospital, baby," she said, smoothing Blaine's curls. "You're going to be okay."

"Hurts," Blaine whimpered, his voice thick.

"They're going to pump you full of all sorts of fucking awesome drugs and you're going to be fine," Francey said firmly, still stroking her fingers through his curls. "Take a deep breath."

The ambulance pulled up to the curb with a screech of tires and a roar of sirens, and Rachel sat back numbly as the paramedics worked over her barely conscious brother. Her stomach twisted at the sight of the blood coating his face and his shirt. "Francey, can I cry now?" she whispered. Francey just squeezed her knee before leaning over Blaine to reassure him as the paramedics snapped an oxygen mask over his face.

They loaded him onto the gurney and into the ambulance, his eyes rolling back in his head. Rachel swallowed down a whimper as Francey started to climb in beside him.

"Miss, are you-"

"I'm eighteen," Francey snapped. Her hands and her pink satin dress were streaked with blood and her green eyes blazed dark. "I'm going with him."

"She can't, though," the other EMT said, jabbing his thumb in Rachel's direction. "She's not old enough."

"I want to go with him!" Rachel argued. "He's my brother, I have to go with him!"

Francey cupped her face in her hands. "You're too young, honey," she said. "Don't cry. They called Mom and she'll be here soon. She'll pick you and meet us at the hospital, okay?" Her lips trembled. "Don't you dare fucking cry."

She pressed a hasty kiss to Rachel's forehead and climbed into the ambulance. The doors slammed and the vehicle sped away from the curb, lights flashing and sirens blaring. A teacher tried to move to wrap an arm around her shoulders, but she shook them off. "Leave me alone!" she snapped, and the crowd gave her a wide berth.

She sank down to the bottom steps, her bare toes curling away from the fat droplets of her brother's blood left behind on the pavement, and hugged her knees to her chest. The wind picked up a little, blowing across her bare back and ruffling her straying curls, but she didn't notice. Her heartbeat thudded in her ribcage.

Her mother's car squealed up to the curb and she stood up, shaking from cold and adrenaline. "Rachel?" Shelby called, slamming the door and running to her. "Rachel, honey, what's wrong? What happened? Where's Blaine?"

Rachel crumpled against her mother's shoulder. "They hurt him," she sobbed. "Mom, they hurt my brother."

Her mother pulled her in tightly and she started to bawl, ugly tears running down her cheeks and soaking into Shelby's sweater. "Come on, Rach," her mother murmured. "Come on, honey, you can cry later. We need to go to Blaine. He needs us."

Rachel nodded numbly, allowing her mother to take her by the hand like a child and lead her to the car, her bloodstained dress brushing against her knees and the rough asphalt scraping against the soles of her bare feet.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****I'M SO SAD NOW.

So...this started on my Tumblr when a gifset depicting Rachel and Blaine as siblings started roaming around everywhere, and someone prompted me to write about it. I wrote a few drabbles. And then...I posted the initial drabble yesterday on Tumbled, and EVERYTHING EXPLODED!

So now I'm writing an entire drabble series just about my sweet Anderberries. And also...in this 'verse...which I guess is the Siblings 'Verse...Kurt has a sibling! Quinn is his twin sister!

So here's the backstory, for those who didn't read the original backstory on Tumbled- and there's some new details in there too. Yay!

Jack Anderson and Shelby Corcoran are married. Jack has one son, Cooper, from a previous relationship. Together, Jack and Shelby have two daughters, Francey and Rachel, and one son, Blaine. Cooper is twenty-five, Francey is eighteen, Rachel is sixteen, and Blaine is fifteen. Blaine was an accident, so he and Rachel are Irish twins- they're only ten months apart. Blaine came out first to Francey, then Rachel, then their mother (who then informed their father, who pretends like Blaine's gay not because he hates him, but because it's uncomfortable and he just doesn't do uncomfortable). No one remembered to tell Cooper until he came home for Christmas and was like "why is Blaine's half of our room covered in Jonas Brother's posters?"

Originally the three younger Andersons attended Carmel High School, since Shelby was the director of Vocal Adrenaline. Francey was involved all four years of high school, and Rachel was a junior alternate in her freshman year. But when Francey was a junior and Rachel and Blaine were freshmen (they're close enough in age that they ended up in the same grade), Blaine was beaten up at the Sadie Hawkins dance. The Andersons sued the school and won; all the money went towards sending Blaine to Dalton Academy. Shelby continued working at the school because she had a five-year contract, and Francey completed her senior year there, but they transferred Rachel to McKinley starting with her sophomore year. Blaine had a lot of trouble adjusting to Dalton and dealing with his trauma, so he was held back a year. But things are pretty good now, even though Francey and Rachel have to share a room and that gets a little dicey.

Now, for the Fabramels!

Burt and Mollie were high school sweethearts (although they're four years apart in age), and Mollie got unexpectedly pregnant during her senior year. They got married as soon as she turned eighteen and started preparing for a new life with a new baby, but they were surprised by twins! Quinn was born first, and then Kurt seven minutes later. They were several weeks premature and Kurt had some issues with his lung development, so things were a little touch-and-go for the first weeks of their lives, but they brought Quinn home after a week and Kurt after three, and they were a very happy family- even though Burt had so much trouble telling the babies apart that he would have to check diapers to see which child was which. But as they got older, Quinn got blonder and her eyes shifted more to green, and Kurt's hair stayed brunet and his eyes stayed blue, so it got a little easier.

Mollie passed away from complications from ulcerative colitis when the twins were eight, leaving Burt to raise them on his own. The little ones were extremely close, and while both twins were very independent and stubborn, Kurt took Mollie's death the hardest, and Quinn, who was already a tough little thing, took it into her own hands to take care of him. They shared a bedroom and often would talk to each other in French (their mother taught them) when they didn't want Burt to understand them. They did everything together- dance class, piano lessons, helping their daddy in the garage.

When they got into middle school, they started to grow apart. Quinn started cheerleading and got popular, while Kurt stayed on the fringes. They started fighting when they hit about thirteen or so, and Burt turned the basement into a bedroom for Kurt/rec room for their friends- although Quinn was the only one who invited people over. Kurt, already feeling like an outsider in his family and outshined by his lovely, talented, popular sister, fought for attention and did his best to hide his sexuality.

In ninth grade, they fell in love with the same boy, Finn Hudson. Kurt got really upset about once again losing to his sister and started picking fights with her all the time, especially when she started dating him over the summer. During one of their most heated arguments, right before their sophomore year started, Kurt accidentally blurted out that he was gay. It shocked Quinn, mostly because she had grown so apart from her beloved twin that she hadn't realized how much he'd been hiding from her and their father. She helped him come out to Burt and they started talking more and repaired their relationship, and Quinn confided that she'd slept with Noah Puckerman.

When Quinn found out she was pregnant, Burt and Kurt helped her and supported her as much as they could. They convinced her to confess to Finn and Puck about what happened and who the baby's father was, and things smoothed over a lot faster- especially when Burt met Finn's mother and they started dating, although when the faggy lamp incident happened, Finn had to face the wrath of both Quinn and Burt.

Quinn had a healthy baby girl, and they decided as a family to keep the baby and raise her together. When Burt had his heart attack, the twins were able to pull each other through it, with help from Carole. When Kurt's bullying turned dangerous, Quinn was the one who raised hell with the principal and talked Burt into letting Kurt go to Dalton. When Burt and Carole got married, the whole family was involved and very supportive, and Carole was very happy to gain not only two new children, but also a grandbaby.

And Quinn and Kurt lost all of their attraction to Finn in pretty short order, because it's hard to swoon over someone who leaves their dirty underwear in a bathroom that three people share, and he always spilled things in the kitchen and didn't bother to clean up, and he snores _so loudly_, but they fell into a pretty natural state of sibling affection, and Finn is very fond of his baby niece as well and helps babysit without complaining (although he still has trouble with diapers).

So yes! There's all the backstory you need to get started. If you want to prompt something for this 'verse, feel free to go to my tumblr (redbullandcupcakebatter dot tumblr dot com) and prompt things there in my ask or my submit box (you don't need to be a Tumblr user to prompt things in the submit box).

I'm excited to see what you think of this!


	2. Quinn's Pregnant

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

"So how was school today, kids?" Burt asked.

"Fine," Kurt sighed, stabbing viciously at the fish on his plate. "I hate Spanish class, but everything else is fine."

"I don't understand why you're taking Spanish this year, kiddo," Burt said. "You and your sister have been speaking French since you were in diapers. Why're you taking Spanish this year?"

"Il veut a flirter avec mon petit ami," Quinn murmured.

Kurt elbowed his twin sister in the ribs. "Silence, tais-toi!" he hissed. "Je n'aime pas Finn. Tu pouves lui ont."

"Non, tu es amoureuse de lui," she taunted.

"Kids, what have I said about no French at the dinner table?" Burt said, exasperated. Kurt shot Quinn another dirty look and took a bite of his dinner. "Quinn, how's cheerleading going?"

"Fine," Quinn said.

"That's all?" Burt said. "Fine?"

Quinn bit her lip, then looked up, plastering a smile on her face. "Yes, Dad, it's fine," she said.

Burt frowned. "I don't think you're fine," he said. "You, uh…need to talk about it?"

Quinn opened her mouth, then clamped it shut, pressing her lips together tightly. She dropped her fork on her plate with a noisy clatter and pushed her chair away from the table. "Excuse me," she said, her chair scraping loudly on the floor.

The two Hummel men stared at each other as Quinn's hasty footsteps died away. "Do you know what's wrong with her?" Burt asked in a low voice.

"No, but I can see if she'll talk to me," Kurt offered.

He got up from the table and walked upstairs to his sister's room. They shared the room when they were little, but once they were thirteen they started squabbling over their shared space and Burt had been compelled to redo the basement into a bedroom for Kurt. It still had the same butter-yellow walls that their mother had painted when they were babies, but the cheerleading posters and framed photos of friends made it distinctly unfamiliar territory.

Quinn was lying on her bed, her back to the door, her forehead resting on her folded arms. Kurt crept a little closer. "Dad wanted me to find out if you were okay," he said.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice muffled. "Leave me alone."

He lingered by her desk, toying with a pink pen. "Are you still throwing up?" he asked.

She sat up, her ponytail mussed and her face flushed. "What?" she said.

"I've heard you throwing up in the middle of the night," Kurt admitted. "And before school." His fingers closed around the pen. "Look, Quinnie, if you have an eating disorder…Dad and I will help. We'll do anything. Just please don't hurt yourself. You're beautiful and-"

She surprised him by laughing, covering her mouth with her hands. "You don't have to make fun of me," Kurt snapped, bristling. "I'm just worried about you and- Quinn?"

With a start he realized she wasn't laughing. She was crying. She covered her eyes. "You're going to hate me," she said. "You and Dad both."

"Why?" Kurt stammered. "I mean, we could never hate you, but…what's going on?"

"I'm _pregnant_," she burst out, and she began to cry in earnest.

Kurt dropped the pen, letting it fall soundlessly from his fingers into the soft cream-colored carpet. "You're what?" he said, his voice spiraling higher.

"I'm going to have a baby," she sobbed.

"Is it…is it Finn's?" he said. "Or is it…oh, god." He covered his mouth. "Oh, god, it's Puck's, isn't it?"

"I shouldn't have told you about that," she said bitterly.

"But…we tell each other everything," Kurt said. He sat down on the edge of his sister's bed, tucking his legs under him. "Quinnie, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," she sobbed. "Kurt, I messed up. I messed up so badly, and I…"

Wordlessly he wrapped his arms around her. She dropped her head against his shoulder. "It'll be okay," he said. "I promise. We'll figure something out."

"I don't know what to do," she whispered. "Mom would be so disappointed in me, wouldn't she?"

"No!" he said, hugging her tighter. "No, Mom loved us. She would've still loved you anyways. I know it."

They fell silent, her body still trembling with pent-up sobs. He pressed his cheek against hers and closed his eyes. "Is Dad going to hate me?" Quinn whispered.

"No. He doesn't."

They looked up to see their father standing in the doorway. Quinn straightened immediately. "Dad," she said. "Dad, I-"

"Quinn, you're pregnant?" Burt said, his expression unreadable.

She hesitated. Kurt squeezed her hand tightly. "Yes," she said at last, barely above a whisper.

Burt sat down on the edge of the bed between his two children. "Kiddo, I'm not ready to be a granddad," he said, wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "I raised you better than this. You should've known to at least use protection."

"I know, Dad," Quinn wailed. "I made a stupid mistake, and now…Dad, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You better be, little girl," Burt said softly. "But you can't go back in time and do it different." He kissed her forehead, then wrapped his other arm around Kurt, who huddled closer in the safety of his side. "We're gonna figure something out. You and me and your brother…we're gonna make this work, okay?"

"Okay," Quinn whispered. Kurt tangled his finger through hers, and she gripped back tightly.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****Sweet and adorable twins. Things would have been so much easier on Quinn if she was a Hummel instead of a Fabray. Burt would have never kicked her out of the house. And Kurt would have babied her all through pregnancy and fawned over his little niece once she was born.

Also, feel free to make fun of my French as much as you want. I used to be able to speak a little, but then I got rebellious and stopped studying it, and now all I can really remember is "je suis lave-vaiselle," which means "I am dishwasher." I JUST USED GOOGLE TRANSLATE, MMKAY? DON'T JUDGE.

But what they said was...

Quinn: "You want to flirt with my boyfriend."

Kurt: "Shut up! I don't like Finn. You can have him."

Quinn: "No, you're in love with him."

Also, whenever the twins speak French, I'll probably keep using Google Translate. AH'M A LAZY AMURRICAN.

Actually, I'm just trying to write these so quickly on top of everything else that I don't have the extra time...

Anyways! If you would like to prompt something for this 'verse, please go to my tumblr ask or submit box! My name over there is redbullandcupcakebatter.


	3. Burt Babysits the Twins

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

"Burt, please," Mollie begged. "If you just give me an hour."

Burt sighed heavily. "Moll…"

"Just an hour," she said, holding up her hands. "If you give me an hour, that'll give me enough time to finish cleaning, and I'll have enough time to get the babies cleaned up and dressed, and then you can go pick up your brother and his family at the airport while I get dinner started."

"Fine," Burt sighed. He held up a warning finger. "But only an hour, okay?"

She kissed him on the cheek. "You're a saint," she said.

"Yeah, I know, I know," he grinned, kissing her back before he walked into the living room, stepping over the baby gate. His nearly-four-year-old twins were cuddled up together on the floor in a blanket fort their mother had made to entertain them, watching a movie. They looked adorable, Kurt with his pacifier in his mouth and Quinn chewing idly on the ear of her stuffed rabbit, but he knew better. They could be awfully cute, but try to get the stubborn toddlers to do something they didn't want to do, and all hell would break loose.

Luckily, he and Mollie had learned how to deal with them.

"I'm going to the park," he called. "I guess nobody wants to come with me."

Two little heads popped out of the fort. "Me! Me! Me!" Kurt shrieked, spitting out his pacifier and waving his arm.

Quinn pushed him down and clambered to her feet, running over to grab onto Burt's pants leg. "Up, Daddy," she said sternly. "I wanna go."

"Wait for me!" Kurt protested, following her and jumping up to hold onto Burt's belt. "Me too, Daddy."

"Okay, okay," Burt said, pinching their round little cheeks. "Go get your sneakers on, okay?"

They ran to the hall closet and wrestled their Velcro-fastened shoes out- blue for Kurt and pink for Quinn. Burt sighed. "Why does your mama keep dressing you two alike?" he complained, eyeing their matching little overalls and collared shirts.

"Because it's _adorable_, Burt," Mollie called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, well, at least now I can tell you two apart," Burt said, scooping a child up in each arm. "All right, kiddos. Ready to go play at the park."

"Park!" they chorused. Kurt flung his arms around his neck, snuggling into his shoulder, and Quinn perched on the crook of his arm, chin tilted up like a proud little princess.

"Say bye to Mama," Burt said, pausing by the kitchen door.

"Bye-bye, babies," Mollie cooed, kissing them both and accepting their sticky kisses in return. "Be good for Daddy."

Kurt nodded, sticking his thumb in his mouth, but Quinn had a deceptively fiendish look in her eyes. Burt sighed and jostled them a little. "Let's go, little buddies," he said.

Wrestling two toddlers into two carseats was an ordeal, but at least after three and a half years of raising the little ones had given them plenty of practice. He knew to buckle Quinn in first or she'd run away, and that Kurt would need his stuffed elephant to keep him distracted or he'd get carsick in five minutes flat. After settling both of the little ones in the back and taking the "best hits of Playhouse Disney" out of the CD player of Mollie's car (his beloved pickup couldn't accommodate the baby seats), he had them on the road in short order.

The nice park was only ten minutes away- Mollie didn't like taking them to the playground on the corner, and he didn't like it much either, what with the rusty play equipment and splinter-filled picnic tables- so it was worth the extra time to feel better about where the babies were playing.

He parked close to the edge of the playground. "All right, kiddos," he said, twisting around in his seat. "Stay where Daddy can see you, and don't go on the big slide, okay?"

The twins blinked innocently at him. "Yes, Daddy," they chorused.

He took them out of the carseats and watching them make a break for the playground. "Quinn, don't climb so high," he called as his fearless little daughter made a beeline for the monkey bars. "Kurt, no, don't put that in your mouth."

He eyed the other parents sitting idly on the sidelines enviously. It would be nice for his kids to be old enough to play on their own without him hovering, but they never failed to make him nervous as hell when they were on the playground without Mollie there to back him up. In the past six months alone, Quinn had busted her lip falling off the rope bridge, and Kurt had gotten kicked in the head by a bigger kid when he walked too close to the swings.

"Daddy, up!" Quinn demanded, stretching her little arms up to reach the monkey bars.

"What's the magic word?" he asked.

"Please!" she said cheerfully, and he hoisted her up to grab the bars. She giggled, reaching from bar to bar as Burt held onto her.

"Daddy, Daddy, lookit me!" Kurt shrieked, pumping his tiny legs hard on the swings.

"No, scooter, too high," Burt called. "Don't go so high, you'll fall."

"Again, Daddy!" Quinn said impatiently. He sighed and helped back across the monkey bars, but when he glanced back to check on his son, he was gone.

"Kurt?" he called, clutching his daughter tighter to him as he scanned the playground. "Kurt, where are you, kiddo?"

"Up there, Daddy," Quinn said, pointing towards the big slide.

Burt set her down, panic setting in. His impossibly tiny son was at the top of the forbidden slide, looking clearly anxious, and a bigger kid was standing behind him. "Kurt, what are you doing up there?" he said, sounding angrier than he meant.

"He told me to," Kurt said tearfully, pointing to the bigger kid. "He told me I had to, or I wath a baby. I'm not a baby, Daddy. But now I'm thcared. I want down. I want down now, Daddy."

Burt took a step back, sizing up the situation. He could try to coax Kurt back down the ladder, but he'd have to move the bigger kid out of the way first. And besides, backing down like that would make it easier for him to slip and fall. Or he could let Kurt go down the slide, which would make Mollie furious, but would probably be the best. It was a slide, after all- kids were supposed to play on it, right?

Before he could make a decision, Quinn walked over and patted the bottom of the slide. "Come down, Kurt," she coaxed sweetly, sounding eerily like Mollie when she was calling for the kids. "Come on, Daddy and I will catch you."

Kurt closed his eyes, and Burt got there just in time to grab him and swoop him up before he lost his balance on the rough gravel below. The youngest Hummel burst into tears and Burt hugged him to his chest, feeling his son's tiny heart flutter rabbit-fast in terror. "Sh, sh, it's okay," he soothed, patting his back. "It's okay, baby. You're safe."

Quinn inched closer to pet Kurt's shin. "It's okay, baby," she echoed.

"Not a baby," Kurt sobbed.

"No, of course you're not, you're my brave little man," Burt said, kissing his cheek.

Quinn tugged on his belt loop. "I want up too, Daddy," she pestered. Burt scooped her up and kissed the top of her blonde head, cuddling his twins, but Quinn ruined the sweet family moment by leaning over and biting Kurt very gently on the arm.

"You scared me," she accused, shaking her small finger at him. "No big slide. No more big slide, Kurt 'lijah."

He nodded solemnly and Quinn smiled, pleased. "I want to go play now, Daddy," she announced, wriggling in his grip.

Burt held on tighter. "How about we just go get ice cream instead?" he offered. "That's safer, right?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****ADORABLE BABY TWINS ARE ADORABLE.

Quinn is such the boss. She's like Kurt's mini-mommy. And that helps at least a little when their mother dies. He at least has Quinn as a surrogate mommy.


	4. The Uncles Babysit Beth

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

"Please?" Quinn begged, bouncing her baby daughter on her hip. "Just for half an hour. I just need to run out to Brittany's really fast."

"I guess," Kurt sighed. He held out his arms. "Give me the little angel."

"Oh, thank you," Quinn said, handing the ten-month-old to him and kissing the top of his head. "You're a saint."

"Yeah, we know," Finn said, stretching his legs out farther on the couch. "We're pretty awesome."

Quinn flicked his nose. "Nope, nope, it's just Kurt," she said. "I'll be back in half an hour, I promise." She smoothed Beth's soft flyaway hair. "Be good for Uncle Finn and Uncle KK, okay? Mommy loves you."

Beth stuffed her fat little first into her mouth and kicked her tiny socked feet as Quinn left. "Aw, she's so cute," Finn said, reaching over to tweak her toes.

"Who has kicky feet? Bethy's got kicky feet," Kurt singsonged, bouncing her on his knees. She giggled and wriggled around on his lap, crawling onto Finn's long legs.

"You want Uncle Finny?" Finn cooed, chucking her playfully under the chin. "Aw, you want to snuggle with Uncle Finny."

She crawled onto Finn's stomach and pulled herself up on his shoulders. Kurt laughed. "No, she just wants a human jungle gym," he said.

"I guess I'm good for that," Finn said, wincing as she grabbed onto his hair and shrieked with laughter. "Ow, ow, ow, Bethy. Ow! Elizabeth Margaret Hummel! Let go!"

Kurt picked her up and pried her off Finn's head. "She just wants to play," he said. "Don't you, Bethy baby?"

"She doesn't have to pull my hair out," Finn complained.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****In this world, Kurt convinced Quinn to tell Finn and Puck the truth right away, Burt never kicked her out of the house, Quinn received proper prenatal care without having to hide ultrasound bills, Terri Schuester didn't try to steal her baby, Puck got to visit his daughter whenever he wanted, Quinn never became a Skank or went crazy, and Beth Hummel was the happiest, most adorable, most loved-on baby in all of Lima, Ohio.

The end.

(But seriously, though, think how much happier everyone would have been if Quinn had been a Hummel?!)


	5. Jealousy

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

"What's the matter, princess?" Burt asked, sinking down on the top step beside his daughter.

Quinn turned her head away, resting her cheek on her folded arms. "Nothing," she said.

Burt leaned back on his elbows and regarded the early spring growth on the lawn. "Gonna have to mow the grass sometime soon," he commented.

Quinn ran her fingers through her short hair, messing it around her shoulders. "Dad, I really don't want to talk right now," she said. "It's stupid. I'll get over it."

"Little girl, I spent half an hour in the car listening to my grandbaby's Veggie Tales CD, twenty minutes listening to Finn complain about there's no real reason to learn algebra, and what feels like a week listening to Kurt talk about how disappointed he is in the new Vogue issue," Burt said dryly. "I figure it's either your turn or Carole's and since she's not home from work yet, it's yours." He squeezed her arm. "C'mon, kiddo, tell me what's going on."

She sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. "It's incredibly stupid," she warned.

"Try me."

She twisted a lock of hair around her fingertip. "Kurt was helping Finn with his algebra homework, and he finally got one of the questions right, and Finn got all excited and said 'thanks, little brother'," she said, mimicking her stepbrother's voice. She let go of the spiraling curl, letting it fall against her cheek. "And it…made me upset."

"Why'd that make you upset?" Burt asked quietly.

"Because Kurt's _my _little brother, okay?" she said, sitting up. "He's my brother, not Finn's. And it's not fair. He and Finn have been getting close lately, and…god, I sound like an idiot, don't I?'

"Not really," Burt said. "But I'm not surprised they're getting close. They share a room, and you're busy with the baby a lot."

Quinn covered her eyes. "I know, but…but I wish things could be like they used to sometimes," she said. "When Kurt and I were close. I was the one he asked to sleep with him when we were little and he had nightmares. I was the first person he came out to. I was the one he wanted when he started getting sick like Mom was. He's _my _brother, and Finn is-"

"You're scared he's taking Kurt away from you," Burt finished. He wrapped an arm around Quinn's shoulders and rubbed her elbow affectionately. "You know, Kurt did the same thing when I started dating Carole. He thought he was losing me to Finn. And you both thought you were losing me to Carole. And now…"

"Dad, stop it," Quinn sighed. "I know it's stupid."

"No, it's no," Burt said. "For most of your lives, all you and Kurt had was each other and me. And things have changed a lot in the past few years. You had Bethy, I married Carole, you two got a new brother, Kurt has his first boyfriend…" He kissed Quinn's temple. "Things are gonna change, princess, whether we want 'em to or not. But nothing's going to change the fact that you and Kurt are going to be family forever. He's always gonna love you, even if there's other people in his life."

Quinn nodded a little, her lips pressing together tightly. "I'm going to go see if Carole needs help getting dinner started," she said, standing up and brushing off her skirt before disappearing back into the house.

Burt followed her and paused in the doorway as she walked over to where Finn and Kurt were sitting on the couch, poring over a math textbook. "No, no, you need to do the same thing to both sides of the equation," Kurt was saying, poking emphatically at Finn's homework with his pencil. "So you have to-"

Quinn leaned over the arm of the couch, cupped both of Kurt's cheeks in her hands, and kissed the corner of his mouth like she used to when they were babies. Kurt blinked. "What was that for, Quinnie?" he said.

She smiled, brushing his hair away from his forehead in an almost motherly gesture. "Nothing," she said. "You're just my baby brother and I love you, that's all."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm not the baby, Quinn, let it go," he said. "Seventeen minutes. It's just seventeen minutes."

Quinn tweaked his nose. "You'll always be the baby," she teased.

"Hey, but I'm older than both of you, right?" Finn cut in.

Burt leaned against the doorway, watching his three kids bicker with each other, and just grinned to himself.

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

I imagine Quinn is fiercely protective of her baby brother. I bet that after Mollie died she refused to let him out of her sight, and he didn't even mind because he missed his mother so much that he needed the comfort. She would have been the more aggressive of the twins, but Kurt would be the one to stop her before she makes stupid choices.

Adorable twins are perfect.


	6. Family is Family

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

"Hey, I'm home."

"Hey," Finn called, glancing up from his video game. "Where'd you go?'

"Dropping Beth off at Puck's for the weekend," Quinn said as she hung up her keys and slid out of her shoes. "Dad's not coming home from Cincinnati till tomorrow and Mom's working night shift, so it's just us for dinner. Whose turn is it, yours or Kurt's? I made dinner last night."

"Kurt's, I think," Finn said, saving his game and tossing the controller aside. "At least, he went in the kitchen a while ago and said he was going to start dinner. So yeah, I guess it's his turn." He followed Quinn into the kitchen. "I don't know if-"

He paused. His stepbrother was sitting at the kitchen table with his head pillowed on his arms, apparently fast asleep. Quinn frowned and sat down beside him. "Kurt? Hey, wake up," she said, rubbing his back. "What's wrong? You didn't seem this tired at school."

Kurt sat up slowly, his blue eyes bleary and his cheek red where he'd been leaning on his forearm. "Did I fall asleep?" he murmured.

"Uh-huh," Quinn said, her eyes narrowing. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm just so tired," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I don't know what happened. I just…felt so tired and I sat down for a second. I must've dozed off."

Quinn took Kurt's hand in hers, squeezed her thumb hard in the spot between his thumb and his index finger, and looked closely at the skin. "You're dehydrated," she said. "Go lie down on the couch."

"I'm not dehydrated, I'm fine," Kurt said, hiding a yawn behind the back of his hand. "I'm just tired. And you pinch too hard."

Quinn grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to his feet, switching abruptly into French, and Kurt rolled her eyes and retorted something at her. Finn shifted his weight awkwardly. It was always weird when the twins started yammering at each other in French. Burt could usually get them to stop, but when he wasn't around they would talk for hours in their secret twin-language.

Then Kurt paused to cough into his hand, and Quinn propelled him into the living room, catching him off-guard. "Finn, go get him some Gatorade, okay?" she said. "Use the green cup, the one with the straw."

"Quinn," Kurt groaned, but he let his sister push him into the other room.

Finn rummaged around in the cupboard till he found the right cup and filled it to the top with chilled Gatorade. He hated seeing Kurt sick. He hadn't even known that Kurt had a condition or anything until their parents started dating- they'd gone to a car show in the summer before the wedding, and Kurt hadn't had anything to drink all day, but no one knew it till he just keeled over in the parking lot. And apparently he was the only one who hadn't known that Kurt had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when he was only ten. He didn't even know it was the same disease that killed Kurt and Quinn's mom until even later after that.

Finn screwed the lid on the cup and stuck the straw in. "Hey, I got it," he said as he walked into the living room.

"Finn, make him drink it," Quinn said. "He won't listen to me."

"I'm not dehydrated," Kurt said, rolling his eyes again and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm perfectly fine. Just a little tired."

"Well, if you're sure about it…" Finn said. Quinn shot him a dirty look, but Finn pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'll just give Burt a call and tell him how you're doing…"

"Fine," Kurt sulked, holding his hand out for the cup. Finn handed it off and gave Quinn a high-five. "I really wish you two would stop teaming up on me."

"Yeah, well, you and Quinn team up against me all the time, so I figure we're even," Finn shrugged.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****Bahaha, this is basically the story of my life.

My husband had UC as a teenager, which is why I chose to write about it- I know how the illness works and how serious it can be. He was diagnosed in his sophomore year and deteriorated so quickly that they told him they had to take his colon out or he was going to die. They had to put him on medication that they give to heart transplant patients because he was doing so poorly. Thankfully, the complete colonectomy was successful, he recovered well, and now he just has a nasty scar, a tendency to make loud noises while digesting (there's so much empty space in his abdomen now that when his stomach rumbles, it echoes like someone shouting in a cavern), and he gets dehydrated really really fast.

Usually it hits him pretty quickly and he just gets very pale and super tired, so he drinks a bunch of Gatorade and takes a nap, and then he's fine. The hand test that Quinn does on Kurt is what I do to Patrick- if you squeeze a person's hand very tightly for a few seconds and watch their skin, the longer it takes their skin to turn back to a normal color the more dehydrated they are.

This is also why I call Patrick Captain Dehydration, the Colonless Wonder.

(He just rolls his eyes and tells me I'm cute.)

Also, someone has already prompted me to write about Kurt blacking out at the car show, so that's going to happen soon!


	7. Surprise!

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

"It's a girl!"

Burt gaped in shock, still clutching his wife's hand. "Oh my god," Mollie groaned, falling back against the pillows. "Oh my god, oh my god."

"She's gorgeous," Burt said, still staring as the nurse took his tiny daughter. He leaned over and kissed his wife. "She's absolutely beautiful, Mollie."

"Six pounds even," the doctor said. "A lot smaller than we expected, but…" His voice trailed off. "Oh my god."

"What?" Mollie said, bolting upright and instantly falling back. "What's wrong? Is the baby okay?"

"Well…I don't know how to say this, but…you're having twins."

"Are you sure?" Burt blurted out.

"Oh yes," the doctor said. "That's…that's definitely a second baby."

Mollie covered her mouth. "I only have one crib, though!" she said.

"I think cribs are the least of our worries, Moll," Burt said blankly. Two babies. He was barely prepared for one. "I think I gotta sit down…"

The doctor examined Mollie as she gripped Burt's hand hard through another contraction, clenching her teeth. "I don't think you'll be able to have a natural birth with this one," he said. "The baby's breech, and I think the cord's wrapped around the neck." He stood up, stripping off his gloves. "We need to bring you in for a C-section."

And suddenly everything exploded. The room filled with medical professionals all talking at once, all of them swarming around his wife. Burt took a dazed step back, and suddenly they were taking Mollie away. He moved to follow and a nurse stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, sir, you can't go with her," she said. "There isn't time."

Burt sank into a chair, his head in his hands. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "It's touch-and-go right now."

Burt ran a hand over his mouth. "Am I going to have to pick between…between saving her and the baby?" he asked.

"I don't know," the nurse said quietly. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Would you like to hold your daughter, Mr. Hummel?"

He sat up. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, where is she?"

The nurse smiled and picked up a tiny pink bundle from the plastic crib. "Right here," she said, and she handed him his baby for the first time.

His arms folded of their own accord around her. She was a lovely little thing, even though she was still kind of red and wrinkly and everything. A fine dusting of soft pale brown hair covered her head, and her eyes were still mostly closed.

"Hey," Burt said softly, stroking her soft round cheek. "Hey, sweet girl. It's Daddy."

The baby mewed, waving her fists. "Do you have a name picked out for her?" the nurse asked.

"Quinn," Burt said, studying her precious face. "Quinn Cecelia." He traced the slope of her tiny nose. "Hey, Quinn."

The baby screwed up her face, letting out a faint cry, almost like a question. Burt rocked her gently. "It's okay, Quinnie," he said. "Mama's gonna be fine. She's gonna be just fine, and she'll hold you in just a little bit, okay?" He bent and kissed her forehead. "But right now, Daddy's got you. Daddy's got you."

"Mr. Hummel?"

Burt looked up to see the doctor in the doorway, his surgical mask pulled down from his face. His heart skipped a beat. "Is Mollie okay?" he asked. "And the baby. How's-"

"Mr. Hummel, I'm happy to say that your wife is doing just fine," the doctor said, smiling. "She's being stitched up right now and we'll send her to recovery in just a little bit."

"What about the baby?" Burt pressed. "Did…did the baby make it?"

The doctor patted his shoulder. "Congratulations, Daddy," he said. "You have a daughter and a son."

Burt sagged in relief, cradling Quinn to his chest. "So he's okay?" he said. "My little boy's okay?"

"He's small, nearly two pounds less than the girl, and he's having some struggles breathing, but he's otherwise quite healthy," the doctor reassured him. "He's the younger by seventeen minutes."

Burt grinned so broadly he thought his face might split in half. "Hear that, Quinnie?" he said, kissing her several times on her cheeks and forehead. "Mama's okay, and so's your little brother." He kissed her again, sighing in relief. "Everything's gonna be okay."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****ALL THE SNUGGLY HUMMEL FAMILY FEELS.

Ugh, they're so cute.

And yeah, in my headcanon they didn't know Mollie was expecting twins until she gave birth, and initially they were concerned that she was going to have this one MASSIVE like ten or twelve pound baby, and then she went into labor two weeks early and _bam_, twins!

Also, they kept both babies in the NICU for a while, but Quinn came home after a few days and Kurt after less than a month, and everything was wonderful. Because he was having some respiratory problems when he was born, and because he was so small, Kurt had some minor developmental delays and was sick pretty often in early childhood. But Quinn was very protective of him and bossed him around and helped Mollie take care of him, so it was all okay.


	8. Little Mama

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

Quinn frowned as the babysitter set down two plates with chicken nuggets and grapes down in front of them on their little TV trays. Her brother glanced at the plate, then up at the babysitter, then sighed and sank down in his chair. Quinn's frown deepened.

"He won't eat it," she announced.

"Hm?" the babysitter said absently. Quinn slid off the couch and marched into the kitchen, pulling up a stool so she could climb up on the counter. "Honey, no! Get down from there!"

"Kurt won't eat it," Quinn argued, struggling as the sitter pulled her forcibly down to the floor. "He wants honey. He only eats chicken nuggets if he can put honey on them."

"Fine," the babysitter huffed, pulling down the plastic bear. "You could have just told me that."

"I can do it," Quinn said. She hugged the bear to her chest. "And he likes milk. Can he have some milk, please? In the cup with Ariel on it."

She marched back to the living room, uncapped the bottle of honey, and set it down beside Kurt's plate. That earned her a shy look from her brother, and he squeezed a little bit out onto his chicken nuggets.

The babysitter put the cup of milk down. "You're too old to drink from a sippy cup, Kurt, especially one with princesses on it," she said.

Kurt looked up at her, his blue eyes darkening, and Quinn patted his arm. "Don't listen to her, she's mean," she said. "Eat, okay?"

She snuggled beside him on the couch, munching on her grapes first, then her chicken, occasionally reaching over Kurt's elbow to dip it in his honey. Kurt nibbled a little bit, his eyes trained on the brightly colored cartoon on the television. They used to never watch this much TV, but now that Daddy had to leave them with a babysitter during the day while he was at work, Mrs. Carter usually just turned on cartoons while she read romance novels.

Kurt pushed his plate away. He'd eaten about half the grapes, and he'd taken a few bites of his chicken, but he still hadn't eaten much at all. And he hadn't eaten much for lunch, or breakfast either.

Quinn cuddled closer and pressed the Ariel cup into his hands. "Drink your milk, else I'll tell Daddy you didn't eat anything," she whispered in his ear.

Kurt nodded and tucked the lip of the cup in his mouth. She sighed and leaned her cheek on his shoulder. He didn't eat much anymore, and he was getting awfully thin- a lot like Mommy had looked before she died. The doctor Daddy had taken them to had said that Kurt was still grieving, and that's why wasn't hungry, and why he stopped talking, and why he cried at night.

She didn't quite understand. Of course they missed their mother. They all did, especially Daddy- although he didn't seem sad, unless he thought they weren't looking. But Kurt…Kurt was like a broken toy, a rag doll with half the stuffing pulled out.

The key turned in the front door's lock, and Quinn leaped off the couch. "Daddy's home, Daddy's home!" she shrieked, grabbing Kurt by the hand and pulling him in to the foyer.

Burt opened the door and smiled at them, setting his keys and his work bag on the floor. "Hey, princess," he said, opening up his arms. "You have a good day?" She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "You two good for Mrs. Carter?"

"Yeah, we were good," Quinn said.

Burt shifted a bit and held out his arms to Kurt. "Hey, little boy," he said. "You want a hug from Daddy?"

Kurt nodded and edged towards him, almost like it made him nervous to come too close, but Burt hugged him tightly, wrapping his arms around his fragile little body, and Kurt sighed deeply, closing his eyes and leaning into his chest. Quinn nestled in the crook of Burt's other arm.

"Hey, Mrs. Carter," Burt said, standing up with a child on each hip. "They behave for you?"

"Oh, well enough," she said.

Burt set them down gently. "Go on and start getting ready for bed," he said, patting them lightly towards the stairs. "I'll be up in a little bit."

Quinn took Kurt by the hand and tugged him up the stairs to their shared bedroom. "Go pick out your pajamas," she said, and much to her relief he walked over to the dresser and pulled out a set on his own. On his bad days, he wouldn't pick out his own clothes- he'd either stay in his pajamas all day, or she would have to hand him his clothes and make him get dressed.

She changed out of her sundress and into her pajamas quickly, dropping her dress on the floor. Kurt frowned, only half dressed with his pajama pants sliding down a little, and reached down to pick up her dress. "You're messy," he accused, sticking it in the laundry hamper.

She grinned. "You're picky," she said. He rolled her eyes as he shrugged into his shirt and she grabbed his hand. "C'mon, we have to brush our teeth."

She pulled him down the hall into the bathroom and handed him his blue toothbrush before picking up her yellow one. Kurt took the tube of toothpaste out of the drawer and squeezed a little onto each brush.

Burt stuck his head into the bathroom. "You two almost ready for bed?" he asked.

Quinn spat into the sink. "Uh-huh," she said. "Can you read us another Harry Potter chapter tonight, please?"

"As long as you're in bed soon," Burt said. "Wash your faces and comb your hair."

"Mmkay, Daddy," Quinn said, rinsing out her toothbrush and dropping it in the cup by the sink. She picked up her hairbrush and smoothed it through her silky blonde hair, then turned Kurt around gently by the shoulders so she could brush his. He submitted to it quietly, chewing thoughtfully on his thumbnail. She tugged his thumb out of his mouth and walked him back to their room.

"Daddy, we're ready for bed," she announced.

Burt glanced up from turning down the blankets on Quinn's bed; the quilt on Kurt's was already smoothed back. "All right, all right, get settled," he said. Quinn clambered on the bed and grabbed the book off the nightstand; Burt sat down on the bed and sat Kurt on his knees. "Where'd we leave off?"

"They were talking to the toilet ghost, Daddy," Quinn said, cuddling against his side. Kurt stuck his thumb in his mouth and looked down at the page as Burt started to read aloud in his soothingly rumbling voice.

She snuggled close, rubbing her cheek against the soft worn cotton of his workshirt. Daddy always smelled the same way, like motor oil and plain soap and piney aftershave. He patted her back absently as he read aloud to them, his arm wrapped around Kurt's waist. It wasn't the same as when their mother would read to them, lying down in their makeshift blanket fort with a twin at each side, kissing them as she turned pages and using different voices for every character. But at least it was something.

"All right, little bugs," Burt said as he set the book aside. "That's the whole chapter. So go on, get into bed."

He scooped Kurt up and carried him over to his bed as Quinn burrowed under her covers. "Are you staying home with us tomorrow, Daddy?" she asked.

"Of course, kiddo, it's Saturday," Burt said. He tucked Kurt in securely, pulling the blankets up to his chin and kissing him on the forehead. "You'll get to sleep in and I'll make pancakes in the morning, how does that sound?"

"Yay," she said. Burt leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Night, Daddy."

"Night, princess," he said. He switched on the nightlight. "Sleep tight. I love you."

"Love you too, Daddy," she called.

"Love you, Daddy," Kurt echoed, his voice sounding thin and reedy in the dark.

Quinn waited for the door to close and their father's footsteps to die away as he walked down the hall before she slid out of bed and padded over to Kurt's. "Scoot over," she whispered. He obeyed, sliding down to make room, and she curled up beside him. He rested his cheek against her shoulder and she kissed his forehead. "Night, KK," she said. "I love you."

"Love you," he whispered, rolling onto his tummy and leaning his cheek against her shoulder. Quinn stroked the soft back of his neck lightly, struggling to stay awake until she was sure that her little brother had fallen into a deep, secure sleep. Hopefully there wouldn't be any nightmares this time.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****alskdfjdklfkld Quinn is so cute. SHE'S SUCH A LITTLE BOSSYPANTS. But she would totally boss Kurt around and make him eat and sleep and everything after Mollie died. She'd probably even boss Burt around a bit.

They're the sweetest little baby twins and I want to adopt them and cuddle them and give them kisses and cookies.

In related news, I need to have a baby of my own.


	9. The Car Show

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.

* * *

Finn scratched the back of his neck and winced. There was already a pretty killer sunburn forming, if he wasn't mistaken. Great.

He'd been pretty excited at first about going to the car show. He'd always wanted to go to one, so when Burt had suggested it, he'd eagerly talked his mom into going with the Hummels. She'd agreed, a bit reluctantly, but she had finally admitted that it was probably a good idea to have a "bonding day," as she called it, with the twins.

The car show, however, turned out to be a lot less fun than he thought. It had started off pretty fun, with breakfast at Cracker Barrel (in which he ate his body weight in pancakes), and wandering around the parking lots and tents filled with amazing cars was awesome…at first. But first it got hot, and after a while all the cars started to look alike, and then it got hotter…

They were supposed to stop and get lunch sometime soon, and thank God, because the pancakes had been a really long time ago, and he was super thirsty. He'd already scrounged around for fifty cents in the bottom of his mom's purse and gotten a Coke from a sketchy-looking vending machine, but honestly, he was ready to call it a day and head to McDonald's. It was nearly two o'clock, and a Big Mac sounded a lot more interesting than another vintage Mustang.

"Hey, Dad?"

Burt paused from examining a 1950s Corvette and glanced up. "Yeah, kiddo?" he said, still distracted by the car.

"Can we stop and get a drink soon?" Kurt asked. Finn looked back at him; his younger nearly-stepbrother was trailing behind the rest of them, the hollow of his throat above the collar of his shirt burned to a bright pink. "I'm…kind of thirsty."

Quinn pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. "And I need to check in with Noah," she said. "I want to see how Beth's doing."

"And, um…I'm kind of hungry," Finn added.

Burt sighed heavily. "Fine," he said. "I guess we can head out and grab some lunch. Where should we-"

Kurt made a weird choking noise, and Finn turned around just in time to watch Kurt's eyes roll back in the head, right before he fell forward and hit the asphalt hard.

Burt was kneeling by him in a second, rolling him gently onto his back and pressing his hand to the side of his neck. His temple and cheek were badly scraped from the fall, the skin peppered with gravel and dotted with blood. "Kurt? Kiddo, come on," he said.

Quinn dropped to her knees beside Kurt, loosening the buttons of his shirt and smoothing his hair away from his forehead. "Dad, he's really hot," she said. "But he's so pale."

Finn stood by dumbly, watching the color continue to drain from Kurt's face. His eyes were trying to open, but he almost seemed like he didn't have the strength.

Quinn lifted Kurt just a little so his head was resting on her knees, her fingers still raking steadily through his hair. Burt gripped his hand tightly. "Come on, kiddo, open your eyes," he coaxed. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

Kurt's lashes parted, just a little bit, and he looked up at his father, dazed. He whimpered a little, clearly distressed and disoriented, and Quinn bent over him to press a kiss to his forehead and shush him gently.

Finn shifted his weight uneasily. Passers-by had begun to gather around, still giving them a wide berth but talking behind their hands. He didn't know what to do. He felt useless.

"What's wrong, scooter?" Burt asked, cupping his free hand under Kurt's neck. "What's wrong? What hurts?"

"My stomach hurts," Kurt rasped. His lips had gone stark white. "I can't keep my eyes open."

"No, no, no, baby, stay awake," Quinn urged. She bit her lip like she was trying not cry. "God, I didn't even notice..."

Finn took a step back as several paramedics crowded him out of the way. His mother took charge quickly, telling the EMTs what happened and prompting Burt to answer their questions. Within minutes they were loading Kurt into an ambulance, lights already flashing.

"Sorry, only one person can come with him," one of the paramedics said, blocking Quinn gently.

Her expression twisted, half angry and half terrified, and Burt squeezed her shoulders. "Princess, go with Finn and Carole," he said. "I'll stay with Kurt and you can meet us at the hospital."

Quinn shook her head stubbornly. "No, I have to go with you," she said. She bit down on her lip hard. "I didn't pay attention, Daddy, it's my fault-"

Burt shook his head and pushed her gently back towards Carole before climbing into the ambulance beside his unconscious son, his mouth set in a grim line as he reached for Kurt's limp hand. The doors slammed shut and the vehicle pulled out, tires shrieking on the pavement.

Quinn choked out a strange little noise, like a strangled sob, and Carole hugged her tightly. "Come on, sweetie, we need to go meet them at the hospital," she said, smoothing Quinn's blonde hair away from her face. "Come on."

Finn followed his mother and Quinn numbly back towards the car. Quinn wasn't crying, and somehow that made everything a million times worse. His mother said nothing as she forced them all into the car and drove out of the parking lot.

The only sound in the car was the occasional click of the turn signal. Finn stared down at his knees, trying not to look at Quinn. Her face was white and blank, completely expressionless. He swallowed hard.

They pulled up to the emergency room and Quinn was out of the car before Carole had even parked. She took off running for the doors, her hair flying behind her.

Finn swallowed hard. "Mom, what's going on?" he asked.

She locked the car door and dropped the keys in her purse. "Kurt's very, very sick," she said. She gripped his arm, firmly but gently. "Come on."

He stumbled behind her, his mind reeling. It wasn't until they walked into the emergency room to find Quinn shouting at the nurse at the front desk that he snapped back down to reality.

"Quinn, Quinn, stop it," Carole said, reaching for her.

"They won't tell me where Kurt is!" Quinn screamed. "Where's my brother? I want my brother!"

Carole grabbed her and whispered something in her ear, something that made her shoulders slump and her face crumple. She stepped up to the nurse and talked to her quietly as Quinn just stood there, staring blankly at the floor.

Carole turned back to them. "He's still in triage," she said. "They'll let us go and see him, but we have to stay calm, all right?"

Quinn nodded and followed her down the hall, her steps quick and quiet. Finn trailed behind them, uncomfortable and awkward.

When they reached the door, Quinn pushed it open without even pausing to knock and immediately raced over to her father. Burt pulled her into a tight hug, smoothing her rumpled blonde hair. "He's gonna be okay, princess," he soothed. "He'll be fine."

Quinn broke out of the hug and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Kurt? Are you okay?" she asked, cupping his chin in his hands.

His blue eyes were dazed and foggy as he looked up at her, and he moved his mouth a little like he was trying to answer but couldn't. Burt sank into the chair beside them. "He's got heat exhaustion and he's severely dehydrated; that's why he blacked out," he said. "They're gonna start an IV in a second, and he'll be okay."

"I hate needles," Kurt mumbled, his lips clumsy.

Quinn laid down beside him, tucking an arm around his waist and murmuring into his ear. He closed his eyes, his lashes dark against the pallor of his skin, and leaned a little closer to her shoulder. They'd cleaned the blood and gravel from his face, but there were still awful red marks left from his fall.

The nurse came in with the IV and began to set up her things quietly. "I hate needles," Kurt repeated, a little stronger this time.

"I know, baby, but you'll be okay," Burt said. "I'm here, and Quinnie's here, and you'll be just fine."

Finn stood awkwardly by the door, trying to make himself as small as possible as he tried to stay out of the way. The nurse prepared the needle, and Quinn hugged Kurt tighter, hiding his face in her shoulder. Burt kept a steady hand on Kurt's shoulder. The needle slid through the thin skin of his elbow, and the only noise Kurt made was a high, strangled, keening sound, muffled in his sister's neck as his entire body tensed.

"There you go, all done," the nurse said, setting up the tubing and the bag of fluids. "You should start feeling better pretty soon. It'll take about an hour to drain this bag, and then we'll see if you need another one, all right?"

"The doctor wants to keep him overnight for observation, right?" Burt asked quietly. "He thinks it's a flareup." The nurse paused before nodding, and quickly left the room.

"Flareup of what?" Finn blurted out.

Carole tugged him aside. "Kurt and Quinn's mother had a chronic illness called ulcerative colitis," she whispered. "It affects the digestive system. Kurt has it too. He was diagnosed when he was ten."

Finn's mouth went dry. "But…he's going to be okay, right?" he asked.

"Finn…she died from it."

He looked down at the Hummel family, his head spinning. Quinn was still cuddling Kurt to her side, lying down beside him on the narrow bed that really ought to only hold one, and Burt sat as close to his twins as he could manage, holding Kurt's hand tightly in both of his.

"We better not lose him too," he choked out, and Carole nodded.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

****UGH FEELS.

I originally posted this on Tumblr the other day, and it wasn't until it was already done and posted that I remembered that I'd mentioned Kurt getting diagnosed when he was ten- and in the original version of this chapter, they didn't know he had it. Oy. I have too many headcanons to keep them all straight. So I tweaked this one a little bit.

I feel like, with a daughter and a son, Burt would be a lot more affectionate and emotional than if Kurt was his only child. But the twins are extremely protective of each other- and it seemed logical that Quinn would put the blame on herself for not taking better care of her brother.

FEEEEEEEEEEEELS.


End file.
